Public Act 096-0157
 		





SB1629 Enrolled
LRB096 08972 DRJ 21230 b






    AN ACT concerning public aid.

 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:



 
    Section 5. The Energy Assistance Act is amended  by changing 
Section 6 as follows:
 



    (305 ILCS 20/6)  (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1406)



    Sec. 6. Eligibility, Conditions of Participation, and 
Energy Assistance. 

    (a) Any person who is a resident of the State of Illinois 
and whose
household income is not greater than an amount 
determined annually by the
Department, in consultation with the 
Policy Advisory Council, may
apply for assistance pursuant to 
this Act in accordance with regulations
promulgated by the 
Department. In setting the annual eligibility level, the

Department shall consider the amount of available funding and 
may not set a
limit higher than 150% of the federal nonfarm 
poverty level as established by
the federal Office of 
Management and Budget.

    (b) Applicants who qualify for assistance pursuant to 
subsection (a) of
this Section shall, subject to appropriation 
from the General Assembly and
subject to availability of funds 
to the Department, receive energy
assistance as provided by 
this Act.  The Department, upon receipt
of monies authorized 
pursuant to this Act for energy assistance, shall commit
funds 
for each qualified applicant in an amount determined by the

Department.  In determining the amounts of assistance to be 
provided to or
on behalf of a qualified applicant, the 
Department shall ensure that the
highest amounts of assistance 
go to households with the greatest energy
costs in relation to 
household income.  The Department shall include
factors such as 
energy costs, household size, household income, and region
of 
the State when determining individual household benefits.  In 
setting
assistance levels, the Department shall attempt to 
provide assistance to
approximately the same number of 
households who participated in the 1991
Residential Energy 
Assistance Partnership Program.  Such assistance levels
shall 
be adjusted annually on the basis of funding
availability and 
energy costs.  In promulgating rules for the
administration of 
this
Section the Department shall assure that a minimum of 1/3 
of funds
available for benefits to eligible households with the 
lowest incomes and that elderly and
disabled households are 
offered a priority application
period.

    (c) If the applicant is not a customer of record of an 
energy provider for winter
energy services or an applicant for 
such service, such applicant shall
receive a direct energy 
assistance payment in an amount established by the
Department 
for all such applicants under this Act; provided, however, that

such an applicant must have rental expenses for housing greater 
than 30% of
household income.

    (c-1) This subsection shall apply only in cases where: (1) 
the applicant is not a customer of record of an energy provider 
because energy services are provided by the owner of the unit 
as a portion of the rent; (2) the applicant resides in housing 
subsidized or developed with funds provided under the Rental 
Housing Support Program Act or under a similar locally funded 
rent subsidy program, or is the voucher holder who resides in a 
rental unit within the State of Illinois and whose monthly rent 
is subsidized by the tenant-based Housing Choice Voucher 
Program under Section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937; and 
(3) the rental expenses for housing are no more than 30% of 
household income. In such cases, the household may apply for an 
energy assistance payment under this Act and the owner of the 
housing unit shall cooperate with the applicant by providing 
documentation of the energy costs for that unit. Any 
compensation paid to the energy provider who supplied energy 
services to the household shall be paid on behalf of the owner 
of the housing unit providing energy services to the household. 
The Department shall report annually to the General Assembly on 
the number of households receiving energy assistance under this 
subsection and the cost of such assistance. The provisions of 
this subsection (c-1), other than this sentence, are 
inoperative after August 31, 2012. 
    (d) If the applicant is a customer of an energy provider, 
such
applicant shall receive energy assistance in an amount 
established by the
Department for all such applicants under 
this Act, such amount to be paid
by the Department to the 
energy provider supplying winter energy service to
such 
applicant.  Such applicant shall:


        (i) make all reasonable efforts to apply to any other 
    appropriate
source of public energy assistance; and


        (ii) sign a waiver permitting the Department to receive 
    income
information from any public or private agency 
    providing income or energy
assistance and from any 
    employer, whether public or private.

    (e) Any qualified applicant pursuant to this Section may 
receive or have
paid on such applicant's behalf an emergency 
assistance payment to enable
such applicant to obtain access to 
winter energy services.  Any such
payments shall be made in 
accordance with regulations of the Department.

    (f) The Department may, if sufficient funds are available, 
provide
additional benefits to certain qualified applicants:


        (i) for the reduction of past due amounts owed to 
    energy providers;
and


        (ii) to assist the household in responding to 
    excessively high summer
temperatures or energy costs. 
    Households containing elderly members, children,
a person 
    with a disability, or a person with a medical need for 
    conditioned air
shall receive priority for receipt of such 
    benefits.

(Source: P.A. 91-936, eff. 1-10-01; 92-690, eff. 7-18-02.)

 

    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect September 
1, 2009.